The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner
by Dragon Violist
Summary: Rewriting! Check profile for new story. Peter needs to get over Alice, who came back to our world with Blood, so Nightmare sends him to find two new foreigners for Wonderland.
1. Peter's Dream

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: I thought this would be a fun one to write. I really like Peter and Julius so I was sad when neither of them ended up with Alice. Sorry this chapter is short the other will be longer. Hope you enjoy it!

Peter White- his dream

"What am I supposed to do? Just let her go!" Peter yells out.

"Yes, all you care about is her happiness right?" reminded the calm incubus.

"Yes, but still, she left! And with that stupid Hatter!" furious at even the thought of his precious Alice falling in love with Blood. He always thought that he would be the one she fell in love with.

"Yes Peter, I know. I don't like it either, but this is what she wanted. He brought her back now he's taking her to face the past in her original world." NIghtmare was trying hard not to show any emotion, but sympathy for Peter, which was difficult because he too loves Alice.

"Can't we bring her back?" Peter cried out desperate for Alice

"I'm sorry Peter but Wonderland won't allow it because of her being happy right now. And Blood also won't be allowed back because a new Hatter has taken his place."

Out of his anger Peter takes his gun out and nearly shoots Nightmare, who dodges just in time.

"Wait...Peter! Before you...(cough)...shoot me I'm prepared to offer you a deal. Wonderland wants a new foreigner, actually two. You can go back to Alice's world so that you may tell Alice goodbye and so that you can search for new foreigners. You do no one, including yourself, any good using the servants as target practice."

Peter settles down putting back the gun in his coat.

"Why me? What about Boris or Elliot?" Peter argues.

"You're the one who loves Alice the most. You need this to help you get over her."

"What if I don't want to get over her?"

"If you don't, all you do is make yourself suffer. Not only that, you would be neglecting your duties out of depression and would need to be replaced," Nightmare informs him.

"I'll go, but only because if I don't, I won't be the rabbit which means, I won't be here for Alice if she comes back. But only for Alice, not anyone else." He says, at least he'll get to see Alice one more time.

"Thank you, Peter. I should be bringing you to a few days after Alice has returned with Blood. Your instructions are to say good-bye. Don't stay with Alice. And find the 2 girls. They can't be happy or content with their life. Wonderland wants to make them happy."

"Okay, I understand."

"Good, now return with in one earth day and good luck." with that Nightmare left Peter in his dream world, which was melting around him into dark nothingness.


	2. Martella

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: Sorry these are so short they seemed longer on my iPod. Enjoy!

Martella- Our World

"Hey look guys, it's the Chubby Bunny," I Harris a sneering voice call out my childhood nickname. I don't look up knowing very well who the voice belongs to. Rosie Everhart and her annoying twins Margaret and Ella. Rosie is my kindergarten enemy who crowned my Chubby Bunny. I was fatter back then and I did wear pink rabbit PJ's to school but come on that was 10 years ago.

Now I'm normal size and wear sweats to sleep. It doesn't matter the name stuck either way.

"Hey whatcha doing their Fat Hatter?" I look up from my sketchbook, then continue drawing my picture of a broken pocket watch. I didn't care what they called me but I have to hand it to that jack wagon, Fat Hatter was pretty creative. I don't let what anyone else thinks bother me, I only care what I think of myself or at least that's what I try to think.

"I said, what are you doing?" she commands.

I hug my sketchbook to me thinking they'd take it but, they go for my viola case instead. I jump up dropping my sketchbook "Hey, give that back!" I demand, reaching for my instrument.

"I don't think so. Let's see...oh I know what to do with it. Margaret, Ella grab her. Make sure no one can hear her either." They tackle me to the ground before I can reach Rosie. I cry out but they take my jacket that was laying beside me and use the sleeve as a gag. Rosie drops the case to the ground and begins to open it. I toss and turn but they have too good a hold on me. I watch, useless, as Rosie removes my viola.

"I just know you're going to love this," she smirks as she raises the viola over her head then brings it down on the nearest rock. I scream through the gag, tears streaming down my face as I hear the deafening crack of wood and strings snapping.

"Look how beautiful it is now, Fatty. Let's go girls," she waves them over. They drop me like a piece of trash, like an old toy broken and dead. I fall on my knees burrowing my hands in my face, trying to keep tears from falling onto the destroyed instrument.

I pack it up into the case, gently as if holding a baby bird. In the distance I hear the bell ring for the next class but instead of going towards the school I pack up my things and run into the forest.


	3. Peter in Our World

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Ch. 3

Author's Note: Okay this chapter is longer. I didn't really know the time period Heart no Kuni no Alice is set in, so sorry if it's unclear. Enjoy!

Peter- waking into our world

Peter opens his eyes to find himself in the garden that he took Alice from. Everything looked exactly as it had back then except for the absence of Alice.

This is the last time I'll probably see her, Peter thought. How can I let go of her smile, her voice, her whole being? Why do I have to suffer?

Peter sighed, "What if she's not even here?"

"Peter!" Right on cue Alice comes running towards him, with Blood not far behind. Peter couldn't see but two small children were hiding behind Blood.

For the first since he met Alice she actually hugged him willingly.

Taken aback Peter finally stuttered, "A...Alice?"

"Of course who else would it be?" It could've been anyone Peter thought. She looks so different, more grown-up. Her long brunette hair was wrapped up neatly into a bow, she grew a little taller and her face had become fuller.

"You just look so different."

"Well I have been gone for 5 years." With this, Peter became wobbly, "5 years..." he managed to get out. " Nightmare said it'd only be a few days."

"Surprised Peter," comes a smug voice from behind Alice.

"Blood," Peter's face twisted with anger and pain.

"Nice to see you too White. I'd like you to meet my two kids."

"Kids...?" Peter questioned shyly.

"Yes, twins. Peter, Julius, it's okay this is just an old acquaintance of mine." Slowly two twin boys stepped out from behind Blood. Peter takes a step back surprised at how much they look like Dee and Dum.

"We almost named them Dee and Dum but decided on Julius and Peter instead. I mean you were the first from Wonderland that I saw and Julius took me in," explained Alice.

After being quiet for quite sometime Peter managed to smile at the twins and introduce himself.

"Nice to meet you two. I'm Peter White, an old friend of your mom."

"Why don't you come on in we were just about to have tea when I saw you from the window. We can't have it in the garden or the boys would run off.

"I'm happy to come but I can't stay that long," Peter accepted the offer.

During the tea Peter explained to him about what Nightmare had said. He left out the bit where he pulled a gun on him and some of the stuff said before that. He couldn't allow himself to do that with Alice's kids there.

Alice filled him in on what's been going on since she left Wonderland

"Well I must be off," Peter says looking at his pocket watch.

"So this is goodbye then. For good this time? Will I ever see anyone else again?" Alice whispered.

"I'm sorry Alice, but I think this is the last time you'll see any of us. Except maybe for Nightmare." He walks over to her to give her one last hug before he continues his mission. A tear escapes his eye rolling down his cheek. He wipes it off before Alice or Blood could see.

"Word of advice, the school is a good place to find unhappy people so you can wander around for a while," Blood tells him.

"Thank you, Hatter," Peter says surprised at the sudden act of kindness. He probably just wants me away from Alice. But still I'll look around the school.

"Um, where is the school?" Peter asks.

"Down the street and to the left, you can't miss it," Alice informs him.

"Thank you Alice," with that he turns to leave, a single tear falling down his cheek.

While walking to the school Peter heard a bell ring. Not the kind that they have in wonderland but a whining type of bell. He saw kids on the school grounds in the distance heading inside. He assumed it must be time for class or something and decided to wait till school was out to look for the two girls.

Suddenly he heard footsteps, the sound of someone running. He turned and notices a figure running through the forest next to the street. Peter rubs and chases after the figure.

"Wait!" he cries out but the person doesn't stop. It's a girl he notices and she's carrying a case around. He keeps after her till she trips, the case flies out of her hands.

Peter rushes over to her.

"Are you hurt?" he says as she weeps into the ground. She doesn't reply, but only points to her case. Peter brings it over to her, she sits up and gently opens the case. He gasps as he sees the once beautiful instrument broken and dead.

"How did this happen?" Peter asks. She punches the ground and slowly begins, "Some girls who have tormented me since elementary school. This was my best friend and they took it away from me," the girl says between sobs.

"Would you like to come with me to another place? Somewhere where they won't ever find you?" he offers.

She only nods.

"Okay I want to take you to Wonderland. It's a place where we might find someone to fix your instrument," he continues.

"Please just take me away," she cries.

"Yes I will but first we need to find one more person because this is what Wonderland wants."


	4. Iris

The Rabbit, the Violist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: Okay here's the second girl. I thought it would be fun if this was possible so enjoy!

Iris- in our world

I grasp a tree branch hanging above my head and pull myself up. I take pride in climbing trees and even more so running through them from branch to branch. It's the only thing I'm good at, I suck at academics because I'm dyslexic and ADHD so I can't concentrate in class, I can't draw, sing, or play an instrument because I'm tone deaf, and I really just don't like any other sports except fir what I call tree running. I feel like a squirrel, jumping around. I've been able to go through two miles of trees without ever touching the ground. I never really use it to spy on people but I followed a girl who was ground running, and carrying a violin case. I see another person come up and he has on rabbit ears and white hair! He reminds me of some of the girls who like manga at school, except they wear cat ears. He sees the girl running and chases after her. She trip dropping her instrument case. I hear them talking and I lighten my breathing so they don't hear me. They're talking about what happened to make her run, apparently that witch Rosie broke her instrument. She takes it out to show us, it looks horribly mangled. I've seen her play sometimes and it used to be so beautiful. The man who is talking to her tells her that he'll take her away if she wants, to a place where they can fix it.

It just seems too sketchy but she doesn't care, she's emotionally compromised. I then hear him say Wonderland needs one more girl and I fall out of the tree, which is rare for me, so rare it's never happened before.

Shocked the two turn to me and the rabbit man smiles, "Well I think we've found our second person," the girl just stares at me with her tearstained eyes. I don't think she recognizes me, we've never worked together before and we both keep to ourselves.

"How much did you hear?" the rabbit man asks, helping me up.

"Pretty much everything but what about Wonderland? Is it like Alice in Wonderland?" I ask him.

"I'm from Wonderland and it wants me to find two people who are unhappy with their life," he informs me.

"Can I come?" I ask him.

"Do you have anything here to hold you back? Friends? Family?"

"No I'm pretty much on my own, I stay with my Aunt but she doesn't really care for me. Wait do they have trees in Wonderland, like a lot of them?" I ask eagerly.

"Yes they do and you can come," he confirms.

"Thank you so much!" I exclaim hugging him. Not really knowing what to do he pats my back.

"Okay then let's go to Wonderland," he says and leads us to the garden of a huge beautiful house and there's this huge rabbit hole right in the middle of the garden just like in the book. The rabbit waves to a girl in the window and then he turns around and jumps in.

"I'm not so sure about this," the girl says to me, looking warily at the hole.

"Are you kidding it looks like fun! Let's go," I grab her by the arm and jump in dragging her with me.


	5. Down the Rabbit Hole

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: Okay I read the fanfic over and decided to keep it as is even though it seems to be going fast. Sorry that's just the way my mind works, and thanks for the reviews. Also sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've just been lazy.

FYI: 2 New Chapters

Everyone- in Wonderland

Peter smiles at Iris who seems to be enjoying herself. Martella on the other hand is screaming insults at Peter and keeps saying that they're going to die. She clings to her violin case and tries to keep her drawings from flying away.

Iris looks down and sees they are advancing towards a blinding white light. Thankfully Martella is to busy trying to get her drawings that she doesn't look down or else the screaming would get even worse.

Iris closes her eyes and pulls her knees to her chest like she's doing a cannonball into a swimming pool. Peter watches her with amusement and the bright light engulfs all three of them.

Martella is the first to wake up. She slowly gazes at her new surroundings, thankful to not be falling anymore. They landed onto a stone floor that looks out to the clouds. It looks like a rooftop or a balcony. When she finally gets a grasp on reality she immediately reaches for her violin. It's laying next to her and she let's out a relieved sigh. Iris on the other hand looks like she was knocked out. Martella is just about to shake her awake when she shoots up and scares her just as much as the falling did.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you, I have a bad habit of waking up that way," Iris apologizes. She looks around and waves to Peter who is walking towards them.

"Sorry I was gone I had to get something from the queen," he informs them, "You seemed like you would be out for a little bit so I made a quick run to the castle. Looks like my timing was right."

"So we're in Wonderland right now?" Martella asks not sure whether to be happy she doesn't have to face school anymore or be scared because she followed this strange rabbit man to this place with out thinking it through.

"Yep, you're in Wonderland! Now I need both to drink this," he tells the two girls.

"Why in the name of sanity would we drink that?" Both of them shout.

"We really don't even know your name or what's in those vials, so I'm not drinking that," Iris points out. Martella nods in agreement.

"Okay then," Peter tells them and he takes out one of the hear stoppers and drinks the contents of the vial. Then he walks over to Iris and kisses her, forcing her to drink the liquid, just like he did with Alice.

At first Iris stumbles back, unable to say anything. Then after thinking it through she steps forward again and slaps Peter.

"You idiot! That was my first kiss!" she yells at him, blushing. He simply smiles and advances towards Martella.

"Oh no, you are not doing that to me to. Just hand over the stupid thing," she demands.

"Fine, here you go," and he drops the light purple vial into her hand. She makes a face a she drinks it but finishes it off.

"Now why did we have to drink that?" Martella asks.

"It's called the Potion of Hearts. Now that you've both drank it you must participate in the game. I have to go now, see you later," he waves goodbye and turns to leave, but not before flashing a mischievous grin at Iris.

"Can you believe that man?" Iris blurts out.

"He still didn't give us his name. By the way neither of us thought this through, did we?" Martella asks. Iris shakes her head in shame at herself.

"What do you suppose we do now?" Martella questions.

"I guess just take a look around and find some place to stay," Iris answers. They gather up Martella's things and head down a small trapdoor they found in the middle I the floor. Before they left Iris looked over the edge and found they were at the highest point of a center tower that was guarded by twelve smaller ones. It seemed like the small towers were the hours of a clock. When Martella heard this, she began to feel queasy so Iris led her down the trap door carrying her violin for her.


	6. Julius and Ace

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: Feels good to get new chapters up. I finally get to write in Julius, he's awesome. Enjoy!

Martella- in Wonderland with Iris

After following the stairs from the top of the tower for a while with only on torch, we finally came to a candle lit hallway with a dark blue hall and light golden wallpaper.

We followed the voices of two guys arguing over something we couldn't make out. We tried to keep as silent as possible till Iris tripped on a bit of carpet, accidentally dropping my already battered instrument.

"Sorry, this is not my day. First I fall out of a tree, get my first kiss stolen and now I trip," she exclaims, so much for being silent.

I'm about to help her up when the voices stop and one of them comes out holding a sword to her neck. The other comes towards me with a gun.

The one with the sword has sandy brown hair and blood red eyes, the same color as the blood on his clothes. He looks like a figure from a nightmare with the long cape and the blood stains.

The one holding the gun at me has deep blue eyes and long blue-almost-black hair that's tied up in a loose ponytail. He's wearing a navy blue coat and a gold dress shirt covered in clocks.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the swordsman asks.

"We were brought here by a man with rabbit ears and we were walking down from the roof we landed on," Iris answers irritably. I pray she doesn't say something that will get us both killed.

"Well you aren't faceless or new roleholders so you must be foreigners," he says lowering his sword. The blue haired man lowers his gun.

"That idiot rabbit, what was he thinking bringing two people this time..." he begins to mumble to himself.

"I'm Ace!" the knight greets over happy and helps Iris up. She doesn't say anything but looks like she wants to hit something.

"I'm Julius. I must return to my work now. If you need a place to stay there are some empty rooms further down," he turns and walks back into the room.

"Well at least you came here first. Alice went all the way to the Hatter's Mansion last time," Ace said.

We both have no clue who or what he's talking about so he says we'll find out later. We introduce ourselves and we find out that Ace is the knight of hearts, like the knave of Hearts in the book. We walk towards the end of the hall and stop by the empty rooms. We bid Ace goodnight and take our own rooms. I look out the window in my room and surprisingly it's still quite light outside. It felt like we spent a lot less time on the stairs than I thought. I lay my instrument on my bed, the case unopened. I refuse to look at it and start drawing instead.

I draw the rabbit man whose name is still unknown to us, and Julius. Ace I don't draw, truthfully he creeps me out a little, and the bloodstains are just a bit questionable.

After I finish drawing I'm too emotionally exhausted to do anything else so I set my instrument down on a chair in my room and sink into the beds soft covers and fall asleep.


	7. Boris, Pierce, Gowland, and the Twins

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: I just want to say that I'm not having Pierce say –chu, sorry it just bugs me. Anyways, enjoy!

Iris- in Wonderland

I guess since its still light outside I'll go try to blow off some steam from all of today's events. It's just so surreal it's hard to comprehend, but I am getting the adventure of a lifetime.

I look around my new room for weapons of any sort just in case I run into more people with swords. I should be fine as long as no one sees me in the trees, but it's good to have back up.

The only thing I find is a long bow and a couple of arrows. Not much good for short-range weapons but it's better than nothing and I can run with it.

I check on Martella and she's sound asleep, so I continue down the stairs till I come to the main door. At the sight of my first tree I slam the door shut behind me and sprint up its branches. I feel much better already and I begin to fly through the branches.

When I looked down from the top of the tower I noticed a random amusement park. I have no clue how it relates to Wonderland so I decide to see what it's for and I really love roller coasters.

Suddenly on the ground beneath me a little figure darts by followed by a slightly larger pink and black one. I quickly chase after them out of pure curiosity.

The first figure I saw is a guy with brown mouse ears in a green outfit being chased by a pink haired guy with a fuzzy boa and a black punk outfit on. It seems like the mouse person is running for their life.

I run further ahead and drop down from a tree onto the ground in front of them. They both stop and he looks on their faces were priceless, but I control myself from laughing. I take out the bow and arrow.

"What are you doing?" I demand to know.

"Help me!" the mouse person hides behind me.

"Why are you chasing him?" I ask the punk guy.

"Because he's a mouse and I'm a cat it's what I do, see?" he holds out his tail for me to see.

"Just leave him alone okay?" I ask nicely.

"Wait are you a new foreigner?" he sniffs the air exactly like a cat.

"Yes I guess so. Peter brought Martella and I here and we ended up in the clock tower," I tell him.

"So there are two of you? Well nice to meet you, I'm Boris Airay, the Cheshire cat. Now what were you doing in that tree?" he asks with a grin.

"I'm Iris, I was tree running," I smirk. He raises an eyebrow; "It's a sport I made up where you only use the branches of the trees to move. I'll show you how to do it if you quit being mean to the mouse," I offer.

"Fine, I'll stop for now," he replies, I nod in approval and turn to the mouse.

"Thank you Miss Iris! Come by the Amusement Parks sometime and I'll show you around," he gives me a hug then runs off waving goodbye.

"Okay now how do you do this?" Boris asks, and I turn back to him. I show for him to follow me and climb into a tree. He follows me and I take off towards the park. I look back to find him flying across the trees with as much ease as I do, must be the cat part of him.

I look down for a quick second and find another two blurs cross my path from the ground. They seem to be heading to the park to. I run faster ahead and I hear Boris tell me to slow down, but I still keep going and jump down in front of two boys that look exactly the same. The look on the faces as I do this never gets old, and this time I can't help it but I start cracking up. Boris lands beside me and asks what's going. Then he starts laughing along when he sees their faces too.

Finally after I stop laughing, I get a good look at the two boys. They're probably my age but they sound like they're 13 or so. They both have on navy blue guard uniforms and the same gray-blue hair; the only difference is their red and blue eyes and hats of the same sort.

"Boris, who is this pretty lady?" the red one asks the cat. I blush, no ones ever called me pretty before.

"And why are you laughing at us?" the one in blue asks.

"This is Iris, she's one of the new foreigners Peter brought. Your faces were hilarious when we jumped down. Iris, I would like you to meet Tweedle Dee," he motions to the blue twin, "And Tweedle Dum," he motions to the red twin.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Iris," I introduce my self. They tackle me to the ground.

"Can you be our new Onee-san? Our other one left us," they both ask, well it can't hurt anything and they seem so cute, and so I agree.

"Come on let's get to the Park, if that's where you want to go?" Boris inquires, slightly blushing.

"Yep that's where I was headed," and we continue on foot to the Park.

When we get there a red haired man with glasses happily greets us. He's also wearing a bright yellow outfit and carrying a misshapen string instrument.

"Hi, I'm Gowland! You must be one of the new foreigners, let me play you a welcome song," he offers.

"No please don't old man!" Boris pleads and covers his ears. The twins do the same, it can't be that bad.

I was wrong, but I managed to survive the horror of what he calls a song.

"That was very unusual," I yell not wanting to hurt his feelings. I can't really hear anything anymore.

"Thank you!"

"The other foreigner who came with me also plays violin, but hers broke, but I'm sure she'd love to come by and listen to you," I tell him. Satisfied he leaves us to the rides.

"Why didn't you warn me about this?" I question Boris.

"I didn't think we would run into him, sorry," he gives a shy grin.

"Come on Onee-san!" the twins pull me towards the teacups and we all get in.

I finally regain my hearing after dozens of roller coasters and Boris takes me back to the Clock Tower. The twins' head towards what I found out is a mansion where they work for the Hatter.

I thank Boris and head up to my room. A few moments later night falls and I hope Boris is already back at the park. Tired from all the fun I just had, I jump into my bed without even taking off my shoes and fall to sleep.


	8. Martella's Dream

The Rabbit, the Violinist, and the Tree Runner

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have no excuse.

Disclaimer: I don't own this )-:

Summary: Iris (the Tree Runner) and Martella (the Violinist) are taken to Wonderland by Peter to escape their real lives. Iris has met Pierce, Boris, Gowland and the Twins. Martella is about to meet Nightmare and they both have met Julius and Ace.

Chapter 8

Martella- the dream world

Expecting to be in my room I open my eyes but instead I find a pirate hovering over me.

"I'm not a pirate," he corrects me reading my mind.

"Who are you and where am I?" I ask plainly just wanting to sleep.

"My name is Nightmare and you're in the dream world, Martella," he informs me.

"How do you...?"

"I read minds;" he answers before I even finish asking.

"Anyways, I asked Peter to bring you here because after Alice left, Wonderland has been out of balance, so here you are. And yes you could just converse with me through thoughts, though I do prefer speaking."

"Okay then, so can you tell me about Wonderland?" I ask.

"Yes, first of all you were chosen to come because you wanted a world where you could live without getting teased all the time. Second, there are three major sections of Wonderland; the Amusement Park, the Hatters Mansion, and the Castle of Hearts. Iris, who came with you, has just met Boris and Pierce. Julius is the clock maker here and Ace, whom you've also met is his subordinate and the Knight of Hearts for Queen Vivaldi. Be careful, everyone here is trigger happy, but don't worry they will all come to love you. Also the Hatter is the leader of the Mafia here, our old one left, but the one who took his place is almost as terrible, so good luck. I'll explain this later on to Iris, so for sleep well and go explore when you're ready." With that the world goes black and I wake up in my room fully rested to find that the moon is shining bright in the night sky. I want to go and check the place out but it might not be safe. I search around the room for any type of weapon other than my instrument case. All I can find are some throwing knives; I have no clue why they would be in there but when I test them out I find that I'm pretty decent at them and decide to keep them. I make them accessible to me so I can use them while carrying the violin in one hand.

I would tell Julius I'm going out but I don't think he really cares what I do, so I head down stairs and out the door.

It feels nice to walk under the stars, but I'm on a mission to find someone who can fix my violin. I swear, if I ever find the power to go back to Earth just for a little bit I'm going to hurt that pansycake. Unfortunately that peacefulness I get from my violent thoughts doesn't last long as I stumble upon a certain bloody knight who appears to be lost.

"Martella! What are you doing out here?" Ace asks.

"Looking for someone to fix this," I tell him, slightly irritated.

"At this time of night? How 'bout you come to the castle? I'm sure Vivaldi would love to meet you and she might have someone who could fix it," he offers.

"Sure, that would be nice," I accept and then follow in the direction that seems to be the opposite of the castle but he lives here so maybe it'll end up being a shortcut.

Suddenly out of the blue it changes to daytime again and the building I see in the distance is not a castle but a mansion; the mansion that houses the Mafia.

After remembering the warning from Nightmare I get out my knives ready to pull my arm back and throw if I have to. And I do. An axe flies past my head and buries itself in the trunk of the tree next to me. My eyes find its origin, which looks to be two black shadows, but right before I throw the knives Ace holds me back.

"Hey Dee, hey Dum!" he calls to the figures.

"You know them?"

"Yeah, they're the gate keepers for the mansion," he tells me.

"Then why did they throw the axes at us?"

"It's their job," he tells me casually.

"Martella, meet Dee and Dum, the gate keepers for the Hatter's Mansion," he introduces. Dee and Dum appear to be twins, one perfering red and the other blue.

"We already met the other Onee-San, but you can also be ours."

"Do you mean Iris?"

"Yeah we dropped her off at the Clock Tower, she taught us how to tree run." I don't know what that is, I guess its sort of self-explanatory though.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Did you get lost again?" A man with rabbit ears demands. He is wearing a colorful scarf and overcoat.

"Hi Elliot, we were heading to the castle," Ace grins and Elliot just shakes his head.

"It's that way stupid," Elliot tells him annoyed.

"This is Martella," Dee and Dum push me towards Elliot.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Elliot, the March Hare," he smiles.

"Nice to meet you too. Um, do you know which way the castle is?"

"It's that way," he points beyond my shoulder. Then from behind the gates another voice rings out.

"Elliot, I'm gonna be in the gardens." A 13year old boy gallops up to the gate. He sports a suit and an elegant black hat decorated with cards and roses. I take a step back because he looks like an older version of my younger brother. I lost him and the rest of my family to a car accident, but I had gone to a friend's house at the time. Tears threaten my eyes remembering him and I beeline in the direction of the castle.

"Martella!" Elliot calls out, but I don't turn back.


	9. Tree Running Lesson

HnKnA Ch. 9

Iris

AN: In the first chapter I said that there is already a new Hatter but I'm changing that to Wonderland needing a new hatter. That means Iris or Martella will become the next hatter. I will write that into chapter 13. They still have to get familiar with the old characters first. Sorry for the time differences, I couldn't keep them straight. Enjoy!

Iris-In the trees of the forest near the theme park.

"Okay, so when you jump from branch to branch always look for a branch that can definitely support you and make sure it has a hand hold that you can grab," I tell Boris. I jump onto another tree to demonstrate.

"That's really all there is to it."

"Have you ever fallen off?" Boris asks. I'm about to say no when I remember that today was the first time I ever have.

"Only once and that happened to be today. I accidentally stumbled on the rabbit and Martell, the other foreigner, talking about Wonderland. I was so surprised that I fell out," I confess, slightly ashamed.

"When did you start tree running?" He asks hoping onto a tree next to us. Pierce had to go to the theme park to help Gowland, the owner, so it was just Boris and I.

"About 4 years ago when I found out that I really have no other talent except for this. And I just recently found out I can shoot a bow and arrow. I've never tried it before," I tell him.

"That's really cool. Hey, do you like roller coasters?"

"I love them," I say excitedly.

"Great! Finally, someone who's not afraid of them. I'll tree race you to the theme park," he grins and then takes off.

I follow after him quickly catching up from years of experience. My feet touch the ground in front of the park first, so I win. Boris smiles and we go inside. We head straight for the craziest looking ride but not before we are stopped by a man in a yellow coat with glasses and red hair.

"Hey Boris, who's this?" The man asks.

"Hey boss, this is Iris. She's one of the new foreigners, a girl named Martella is the other one, but I haven't met her yet," the Cheshire Cat informs him.

"Ah, we'll its nice to meet you. I'm the owner of the park and you can call me Gowland. Now let me play a song for you," Gowland takes out a really disproportionate violin.

"Please no, cover your ears Iris," Boris warns. Before I can ask why the most awful noise erupts from that violin. I think something is dying and being tortured. Finally, the sound dies and its safe to open our ears.

"Uh, that was very interesting. Um, definitely talk to Martella. She plays the viola," I tell him, hoping that she might just be able to help him.

"Thanks Gowland, we'll be going now," Boris tells him and takes my hand. We run off to the roller coaster.

"That was awful. Does he know how bad he sounds?"

"No, we think he's really tone deaf." Boris takes my how and arrows from me and puts them in a cubby so I don't have to take them with me.

We climb onto the ride and wait for it to start. A few people climb on with, but they don't have faces. I ask Boris about it and he said that only the roleholders have faces. I was gonna say something else but the ride starts.

I love the feeling of butterflies in my stomach, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, I feel like I'm flying.

When the ride stops, Boris and I stumble off completely dizzy.

"This world is awesome!" I exclaim.

"I'm glad you think so," Boris replies, he hands me my bow and arrows back. Just as we're about to head towards another ride I see a familiar face walking towards us.

"The rabbit guy is here," I point out to Boris with slight contempt.

"You mean Peter? What did he do now?"

"I'd rather not say," I say angrily.

"He must be here for the boss."

"Actually, I'm here for Iris," he walks up to us.

"Why do you want me?"

"The Queen of Hearts wants to see you. Martella is with her now and she wants to meet the new foreigner," Peter tells me.

"Fine, I'll go."

"I'm coming too," Boris interjects.

"Very well but not into the castle," Peter starts walking away so we follow him to the Queen. I really hope she doesn't take off my head like in the book.


	10. Rewrite Notice!

**Revised story!**

I decided to rewrite some of this story. The main plot is pretty much the same but the original kept getting to confusing.

It's still going to have the same name. You can find it on my profile.

Thanks for following and reading it!


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